Thanks!

Having such a narrow topic as "Beer in Utah" makes for some tough writing some days. After doing this for five years, I often think about "hanging-it-up". Then I look back on the years previous posts and find that there is a shload of things going on in Utah's Craft Beer community and I find new inspiration.

This whole Beer Blog thing started out as a little self administered therapy. So I just wanted to take the time on this the last day of 2010 and say, thanks for another great year, thanks for the new friendships and thanks for sharing in my treatment.

Cheers!

Deschutes Red Chair

Looking for a something special to ring in the new year? Dechutes' Red Chair Northwest Pale Ale, a winner of multiple awards, including. World’s Best Beer, World’s Best Ale, World’s Best Pale Ale, World’s Best Standard Pale Ale, and The America’s Best Standard Pale Ale.

It has a plush body with satiny caramel flavors derived from seven varieties of malt. Yet, despite it all, it remains a hop-forward ale with that distinctive citrusy punch. Minus any mouth-puckering bitterness.

Available at most liquors right now.

Cheers!

Better Late, than Never

Christmas may be gone, but as the title says, better late than never. Don't fret though - there's still New Years Eve.

We first told you about late comer, numero uno back in early October. This collaboration between Weihenstephan, one of the world's most important breweries and Samuel Adams has been eagerly awaited by many in Utah and it doesn't disappoint. Taste wise - that is.

The bottle presentation is beautiful. Poured from 750mL corked bottle. Infinium is quite dry with crispness o' plenty. Starts with bready hints along with some slightly ripened, vinous notes. Slight banana and some pear come next with apple and grape rounding out the middle. The finish is definitely very Champagne-like and dry. Mouthfeel is crisp and dry with a medium-light body. There is slight heat from the alcohol but the carbonation cuts-it a bit, just like it would in a sparkling wine.

Be prepared for some bottle shock, as Infinium will set you back a few Hamiltons. Available at the Bayou and soon to allocated liquor stores.

The next "tardy beer" is Anchor Brewing's Our Special Ale. This Holiday institution goes back all the way to 1983 and has had a different recipe every year. Some years have been better than others. I think this year is one of the good ones.

The nose is dry and roasted with some toffee, raisins, figs, caramel and fruit esters. The taste starts dry and bitter. Then the spices kicks in: They give way to notes of passion fruit, oranges, figs, root beer and a hint of chocolate. The finish is lightly dry with some roasted malt, dried fruits and mixed exotic spices. The 5.50% ABV is almost sessional. Wide release.

The last of the "hind tit" beers is Boulevard Brewing's Harvest Dance Wheat Wine. Yup, a Wheatwine. The Wheatwine is akin to a Barleywine in strength, but contains a large portion of wheat malt; upwards of 50%. The wheat provides a soft and fluffy mouthfeel.

This beer has a fruity nose with sweet malt notes. The flavor starts with a complex blend of sweet, bready malt, next comes vanilla, oak, and a slightly vinous backbone. Rounding slowly to a long, dry, oaky finish. The ABV is 9.10% and is served from 750mL corked bottle. At the Bayou and some allocated liquor stores.

These are all great choices to help ring in the New Year. If you find any of these at area liquor stores, please comment on where you found them.

Cheers!

An Elephant Hits the Town

RedRock's Elephant Double IPA is proving to be a huge hit. If you like IPA's and you havn't tried it, this one is a must have. It is now available in many Utah Liquor stores and is expanding. Here are some of the new places where it's available.

Store 24 - 1160 Patterson St in Ogden
Store 31 - 14445 S Minuteman Dr in Draper
Store 38 - 1550 Snow Creek Dr in Park City
Store 16 - 125 W 9000 South in Sandy
Store 25 - 3255 E 3300 South in SLC

As always, if there's a beer you want and your local store doesn't carry it, politely ask the manager if they could get some in for you. And if that doesn't work, keep on them....politely.

Also Squatters has a new seasonal. Midnight Pale. It is an American Dark Pale Ale (Cascadian-esque) with a good dose of Amarillo and Cascade. It's quite yummy, highly recommended.

I hope that whatever you plan on doing tomorrow that you safe and happy and are enjoying a great local beer.

Cheers!

Sierra Nevada Estate Homegrown Ale

The Bayou got in a limited amount of Sierra Nevada Estate Homegrown Ale.

This beer is made with organic wet hops and barley grown at the brewery in Chico and is one of the few estate-made ales produced anywhere in the world.

The Estate Homegrown Ale has a spicy nose with earthy, grapefruit-like hop notes. The taste is the same. Layered with spicy aromas and barley with mild sweetness and smooth, toasted flavors.

Not as hoppy as some Sierra Nevada beers but still quite good.

Comes in a 25 oz. bottle and is 6.7% abv.

Cheers!

The Gift of Beer

With the Christmas rapidly approaching, you may be in need for a great gift for that beer minded person on your list.

May I suggest Desert Edge Brewery's Growler Gift Baskets. The basket comes with one 64 oz. refillable growler bottle, three growler refill gift cards and two Desert Edge Brewery logo glasses, all neatly packaged and ready for purchase for only $34.95.

Beats the Hell out of Fruit Cake any day!

Cheers!

Epic's Imperial Stout #2 and a New Poll

On November 25 Epic Brewing released their first Imperial Stout. Twenty days later the second release of one of their newest beers is already in the tank.

For Batch #2 of the Impy Stout, the grain bill was "Upped" with more roasted and dark malts. Which works for me. Stouts of this gravity need all the dimensions they can get. The Hop bill has also been modified with increased Nugget and Chinook hops.

Last year at this time there were no Impy Stouts, now there are three. Squatters Outer Darkness, Epic's Imperial Stouts and I'm counting Uinta's Labyrinth as an Impy even though it's labeled as a black ale.

I've created a new poll to see who is the local Impy King thus far. No cheating! If you haven't tried them all yet, you have two weeks to get your shit together and vote.

Cheers!

Thank You!

I just wanted to send out a big THANK YOU to all of you that were able to attend the Second Annual Utah Beer Holiday Tasting.

You were all so generous, not just with you beer but your food and great conversation. I was sad the night had to end as early as it did. Just as well... Mrs. Mikey was about drop kick one of her Jimmy Choo's up my back door. Something about me having a "wee bit too much"?

Anyway, like most of you I was able to sample a lot great stuff and I'm sure what I was able to sample was less than 10% of what was actually there. I love it when people come up to you and say, "Oh my gawd... you gotta try dis" over and over.

We actually had three other states representing besides Utah. Great craft beer lovers from Nevada, Idaho and Arizona all brought some of their local flavor to the party and really proved this wasn't just a Utah thing.

Thanks to all the Utah Brewers for "doing what you did". It's always great to pick your brains, and I know many of the attendees loved getting to know you guys better.

That's all I got. I you have any great photo you'd like to share please upload them to the Utah Beer Facebook page or you can send them to utahbeer@gmail.com and I'll post them on the blog. Thanks Again.

Cheers!

Lagunitas Beers Return

Lagunutas Brewing entered the state a few months ago via the Bayou and Beehive with a few labels. Today we are finally getting an expanded glimpse of their regular line-up. Here are some of the new Lagunitas beers to enter the market.

Lagunitas IPA: Made with 43 different hops and 65 various malts. Beautiful citrus taste with a solid sweet malty backbone. Heavy hop rind lingers on the tongue for a little while.

Lagunitas Imperial Stout: Starts with cocoa and coffee. Raisin and fig with light coffee and chocolate comes next. Finishes with dark malts and a slightly nutty taste.

Lagunitas Pils: A nice sweet malt flavor with a bit of a grassy noble hop flavor. There's a bitterness towards the end that is quite nice.

Lagunitas Pale Ale: The taste starts with sweet flavors of caramel and citrus. There's a decent hops presence that comes in next with a hearty malt character that provide a decent balance.

Lagunitas Censored: Sweet toffee and caramel malt up front. The toasted malt flavors intensify in the middle with some emerging spicy/floral hop notes. Finishes with lots of sweet, amber malt and a mild pine hop smack.

Lagunitas Maximus: Sweet citrus hops explode on the tongue balanced with the caramel malt base. Grapefruit and bright tropical fruit flavor dominate much of the palate with only a slight caramel flavor peaking through.

Available at the Bayou & Beerhive

Cheers!

Strange Brews

You know what i love about this time of year? The great beer selection. Everyone has great seasonal offerings in addition to their regular line up.

I'm was at the grocery store the other day and I came across a couple of the more unusual offerings.

Ed Hardy, former tattoo artists and current clothing designer has decided to get into the beer business. His first attempt is a uninspired, lackluster lager made in Mexico. It's your basic adjunct lager. Macro beer taste at micro beer prices. I can't believe they have balls to sell this shit for eight and a half buck a sixer.

The other strange brew is Beer. Yup it's called Beer. Beer Light to be exact. With such an inspired name I can only imagine that it lives up to it's name. I didn't get an opportunity to try it. It only comes in a Thirty-pack of cans. I apologize for my lack of commitment.

The one good thing I can say about Beer Light is it's price. At 16 bucks for thirty beers, that Porsche will be in your garage much sooner than you thought.

One beer that's not for sale in grocery stores, but is available today is Hoppers The First SnowAle. Available at Hoppers for $7.50 in 25 oz bottles and at the Bayou later in the week.

Cheers!

Raspberries Baby!

I imagine that your starting to get a sense that there's a theme going on here. This is a great time of year for beer and I have no intention of denying you a single pint of Holiday goodness.

Today's offering is from Desert Edge Brewing and it sounds heavenly. Holiday Raspberry Stout is a chocolate stout with 145 lbs of fresh raspberries added. The addition of the fresh berries provide the beer with a slightly tart fruit flavor which is countered by a slightly sweet stout.

I imagine if you like chocolate and raspberries this one will leave you all gushy.

Available at the brewpub. 4.0%

Cheers!